Excerpt

The European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) Bone and Joint Infection Guidelines (ESPID Guidelines) are intended for use by health providers who take care of children with bone and joint infection (BJI). Although BJI can include a diverse range of presentations, these guidelines will focus on “acute, hematogenous BJI in children,” with an emphasis on bacterial infections.ESPID Guidelines are consensus-based practice recommendations developed in a systematic manner that aim to be clear, valid and reliable, and presented with clinical applicability. Because evidence from large randomized controlled trials is rare or lacking, practice statements and recommendations provided here frequently reflect our expert consensus process based on best current practice.Although these guidelines include evidence-based and opinion-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of children with BJI, these guidelines may not provide the best clinical solution and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the clinical judgment of physicians in individual cases or to establish a protocol valid for all children with these infections. Consequently, they do not represent the “only” appropriate approach for children with this kind of infection.We kindly refer to the full version available online (Supplemental Digital Content, http://links.lww.com/INF/C729) for more information on sources used, literature search strategies, guideline development methodology and the ESPID Review Team.The authors of these ESPID Guidelines have made considerable efforts to ensure that the information upon which they are based is accurate and up-to-date. Users of these guidelines are strongly recommended to confirm that the information contained within them, especially drug doses, is correct by way of independent sources. ESPID and the authors of these guidelines accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies, information perceived as misleading or the outcome of any treatment regimen detailed in the guidelines.